"4 Generations" is a film short documenting my journey in southwestern China (near Tibet) to first find, then deliver a water buffalo to a poor family. The water buffalo led us to a family with an phenomenal story. Inspired and donated by author, educator, and founderof photo.net, Philip Greenspun and his colleague Craig MacFarlane.
UPDATE 2/23: New videos in the next week - water buffalo in action.
Trivia
- idea evolved from Philip Greenspun’s post, where he offered to buy a water buffalo for a poor family in China, and I offered to carry out the task and make a video of it
- took 60+ hours to edit (Final Cut Pro), write and perform the music (Pro Tools), record the voiceovers, edit the pictures and create text (Photoshop), translate the Chinese and add subtitles, and export final copies to Quicktime and Flash, 95% of which was done in the first five days
- takes about 3.5 hours to drive 75 miles to the little town of Da Zhuan (1/4 gravel, 1/4 dirt & mud, 1/2 pavement)
- see a Flash map of where this took place in China
- the reason there are rocks all over their yard is because the father carried them home from a local river. He was starting the process of building another room for his house, but when his wife committed suicide and after his loan/interest, he did not have the money to buy the Chinese "roof" tiles (zhuan wa / 砖瓦) , or the money to buy wood to finish this room
- looked at 3 buffalos, one was 10 years old, one was sick, and the one we got was 5 years old, all were male
- the water buffalo was 3600 RMB (~$460 USD) and was donated by Philip Greenspun and Craig MacFarlane, and Thomas Thompson chipped in the costs for travel and lodging for four people to get to Da Zhuan and back
- I recorded the instrumental version of The Fray’s "How To Save a Life" was done using Native Instruments Kontakt libraries, Pro Tools, a Korg Triton as a controller, and my electric and acoustic violins (see more gear)
- all music, including the cover and the “string quartet sound” was recorded in one day on January 9, 2007
- used Final Cut Pro to edit the video, and a Logitech USB Headset for the voiceovers (helpful hint, use +8 dB on the voiceover track). Normally, I would have done the voiceovers in Pro Tools but my mics are in the US
- 4 hours of DV cassettes edited down to 7+ minutes
- 15 people were involved directly and indirectly with this production, mainly my family in the San Francisco Bay Area (with special thanks to my brother Jimmy, who works in the film industry, Tom the web guru, Eric and his Adobe coworkers who beta’d the movie, and Helen’s help with the voiceovers) and my wife’s family in Yunnan
- opening photograph was taken by Louis-Daniel Joly while on tour with Cirque du Soleil at London’s Royal Albert Hall
- we will revisit the family in March 2007 to do a followup interview
I like your direct approach and I'd like to buy and donate a water buffalo, too! Chun Mei and I are so happy that this video has reached so many people. However, it is not feasible for us to accommodate all these requests.
HOWEVER, we are in the process of making another video and will be taking donations, where 100% of the proceeds will go directly to a family. Please check back soon for details, it's a pretty interesting story.
How will they feed the water buffalo? How much is the "maintenance" cost, per se?
Update: I finally asked some farmers in E Jia (where all these photos were taken on February 16-21, 2007) and they told me that there is no monetary cost to feed the buffalo -- they simply take them out and the water buffalo grazes for up to four hours.
If the farmer doesn't have time to take the water buffalo out, they go out and pick grass, leaves, and other food for the buffalo (see photo, click to enlarge.)
I'd like to see pictures/video of the water buffalo working, do you have any?
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Top left: Turning soil Top right: Close up shot Bottom left: Stomping mud to break it apart so the soil can be used to make "bricks" to build a house.
Does the family have a place to house the water buffalo? Yes, and apparently the buffalo "got along" with the chickens and other small animals the Su family already had.
Does the family have a field where this water buffalo can work?
Yes, like most farmers in Da Zhuan, the Su family has a field where they grow rice, beans, "bai cai" (greens, cabbage, etc).
Who did the soundtrack for the water buffalo movie? I want to download the instrumental version of "How to Save a Life"? I did. I recorded the "quartet sound" using my acoustic and electric violin, I wrote the parts in Sibelius and covered it in Pro Tools. Maybe one day I'll post it online, but really, that wasn't the focus of this project.
I'd like to take action, do something, donate, what can I do? Philip and I have not advertised, placed Google ads, or asked for any donations for the making of this video, or partnered up with any charity. If donating money is what you'd like to do, Charity Navigator is a good resource for evaluating various charities and is probably the first place you should go for more information.
Having said that, we are in the process of making a second movie about another family, and will be taking donations, where 100% of the proceeds will go directly to them until the goal is met. Please check back soon to be part of this special process.
As for organizations, I feel that Kiva.org has a very interesting approach (micro loans where 100% of the donation goes to someone, and then they pay it back with no interest):
from Kiva.org:
Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses
in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can
"sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great
strides towards economic independence. Started in October 2005, Kiva
has facilitated over $2.5MM in loans to borrowers in developing
countries.
Since 100% of your loan money is sent from Kiva to the microfinance
partner, Kiva relies on generous donations to pay for operating costs
like salaries and office electricity. To donate to Kiva's general
operating fund, please send checks to the below address . Kiva is a
501(c)(3) nonprofit and your donation is tax-deductible.
Kiva Microfunds
c/o - Olana Khan
2180 Bryant Street
Suite #106
San Francisco, CA 94301
